Around 4,200 families living on or around Boeung Kak Lake in central Phnom Penh are affected by the re-development, which is the outcome of an agreement reached in 2007 between the Municipality of Phnom Penh and a private company. The company started filling the lake with sand in August 2008, in preparation for building.

The agreement was made without any prior consultation with the affected families, who since learning about the deal have repeatedly protested and voiced concern about the plans. At least two villagers have been arrested for their peaceful protests. Company workers and security forces have intimidated and harassed many others, while the rising water levels caused by the filling of the lake, have flooded and destroyed many homes around its shore, forcing people to move.

PLEASE WRITE IMMEDIATELY in English, Khmer or your own language:

• Urging the authorities to halt immediately any plans to forcibly evict the families living in Villages 2 and 4 in Boeung Kak;
• urging them to reconsider the plan to move the community to a resettlement site at Damnak Trayoeung, which has no adequate shelter, water, electricity, sanitation, sewerage, health care or job opportunities;
• Calling on the authorities to hold genuine consultations about the onsite development plans, including clarifying the time frame for temporary relocation and a guarantee of security of tenure at Boeung Kak;
• Demanding that they uphold Cambodia’s obligations under international human rights treaties prohibiting forced eviction and related human rights violations.

Help stop these forced evictions. Please send your message now.

Sign our petition calling for an end to forced evictions in Cambodia, and recognition of the land rights of Villages 2 and 4 in Boeung Kak, Phnom Penh.

Read the background information on this case

Action posted by James

Watch and share the video on the eviction: http://hub.witness.org/en/Group78Eviction2

Watch and share the video on Group 78: http://hub.witness.org/en/blog/Group78Eviction
A coalition of NGOs in Cambodia issued a joint statement:
“Joint civil society organizations strongly condemn the 3-years-long coercion campaign of Group 78 residents to leave their homes and land, culminating in this morning’s final eviction of the area.”

“Today is yet another black day for land rights in Cambodia,” said LICADHO director Naly Pilorge. “Once more, some of Phnom Penh’s poorest and most vulnerable residents have been forced off their land in return for grossly inadequate compensation.”

Read the statement: http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/pressrelease.php?perm=211

Amnesty International condemned the forced eviction:

“The families dismantled their homes after three years of government harassment and intimidation, with no choice but to accept inadequate compensation rather than have their homes demolished.”

Read the AI press release: http://tinyurl.com/nkv22b

On July 16, the governments of 7 countries, along with the World Bank, United Nations, and others, called on the Cambodian government to stop all forced evictions in the country until a fair mechanism for resolving land disputes and a comprehensive resettlement policy are developed.

Read more: http://hub.witness.org/en/blog/Group78Eviction

These governments and organizations are part of “Development Partners” – donors to Cambodia.

[source:witness.org]

Before daybreak this morning at least 70 security forces, some armed with guns and electronic batons, moved in and fenced off the area where four remaining families were holding out. Within hours, the resisting families felt they had no choice but to leave.

We don’t yet know where people have gone or what has happened to their homes and community. Right now we’re tracking down a number of the families and will share their stories as information becomes available.

APYN strongly condemns this forced eviction and the deeply flawed process that led to it.

We’ll continue to keep you updated about the plight of Group 78 via our website.

Sadly, Group 78 are not alone in their struggle. In 2008 we received reports of about 27 forced evictions, impacting an estimated 23,000 people; but together – as a movement of 2.7 million supporters – we’ll continue to call for real, lasting change.

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What sort of obligations does the Cambodian state have to its nationals with regards to forced evictions and adequate housing?
Cambodia is party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and other international human rights treaties that prohibit forced eviction and related human rights violations, Cambodia therefore has a duty to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights provided for in these treaties, including the right to an adequate standard of living, and specifically the right to adequate housing (Article 11 of the ICESCR). As part of the right to housing, Cambodia is obliged not only to stop forced evictions but also to protect people from forced evictions.

Case – forced eviction from Sambok Chab
One thousand, five hundred families were forcibly evicted from Sambok Chab in mid-2006 to make way for urban development. It was an informal settlement on the bank of the Bassac River in central Phnom Penh established in the early 1990s.

Events leading up to the forced eviction at Sambok Chab
o The Cambodian authorise announced that a real estate company had obtained legal title to the land where the families in Sambok Chab were living and that they wanted to redevelop the area;
o Neither the Cambodian authorities nor the real estate company made the alleged legal title available to the public;
o The real estate’s ownership claim was not validated by a court as is required under Cambodian law;
o The redevelopment plan was not made public;
o The families living in Sambok Chab were excluded from the processes and decisions that impacted on their lives. No one meaningfully consulted them about possible measures to upgrade their community or about their needs at a resettlement site.

The forced eviction at Sambok Chab
o The authorities cordoned off Sambok Chab in June 2006;
o Hundreds of members of the security forces and demolition workers forcibly evicted 1500 families from the settlement and bulldozers flattened their homes;
o A small number of home owners were given alternative accommodation on the outskirts of Phnom Penh;
o 1500 families including many who had been renting homes at Sambok Chab were relocated 20 kilometres outside Phnom Penh to New Andong in trucks provided by the authorities and the real estate company.

What was the New Andong relocation like?
When the 1500 families arrived at New Andong in June 2006 they found an empty muddy field with:
o no houses or shelters
o no sewage system
o no clean water supply
o no electricity
o no access to the road
o no schools
o no clinics
o no markets

A young mother forcibly evicted from Sambok Chab to New Andong made the following statement to Amnesty International:

“The situation at that time was out of control so I just followed what they told me to do. They told me they would find a job for me and give me land. They would build factories, hospitals, schools and more. But when I arrived, everything was empty. The land was flooded, and I felt hopeless.”
How did the families manage at New Andong?

Shelter
Most families erected temporary shelters using materials they had salvaged from Sambok Chab and tarpaulins provided by civil society organisations

Earning a living
Most of the families had worked as day labourers or street vendors in Phnom Penh. The relocation to New Andong meant that most lost their livelihoods. The cost of commuting to Phnom Penh is greater than most can earn in a day. Members of some families have moved back to Phnom Penh so that they can earn money and send it back to their family in New Andong. Other New Andong residents now work as labourers for farmers or on local construction sites.

Health
NGOs and doctors who work with the community in New Andong have reported widespread health problems especially amongst
children including: skin disease, diarrhoea, Dengue Fever and malnutrition. Those living with HIV/AIDS had to leave New Andong to live nearer a medical centre which could provide the healthcare they needed.

After three years in New Andong:
o Most in the community remain severely deprived three years after the forced eviction;
o Many New Andong residents have still not received official documentation guaranteeing them security of tenure which they say they were promised before they were relocated to New Andong. With land prices rising in Phnom Penh they fear that they maybe forcibly evicted again in the future;
o Three years after the forced eviction most of the land in Sambok Chab where the families used to live remains unused.

Other communities at risk of forcible eviction in May 2009 include:
Borei Keila http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/008/2009/en
Group 78 http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/ASA23/007/2009/en

ACTION NEEDED!
The Asia Pacific Youth Network is calling on the Cambodian authorities to:
o End all forced evictions;
o Ensure that all past victims of forced evictions receive an effective remedy, including access to justice and adequate compensation;
o Ensure that people living in deprived areas and informal settlements have equal access to public services and can participate in developing and implementing solutions to ensure adequate housing;
o Ensure that all people who may be affected by land development are accorded the legal protections to which they are entitled under international standards, including adequate notice, consultation, due process and assurance of adequate alternative accommodation.

What You can do:

Add your name to the petition to Sar Kheng, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior

Sign the Petition now for Group 78